Hope Awakened
Hope Awakened
1. Trust What God Has Spoken
The book of Ezra begins with a reminder that God is faithful to His promises. For seventy years, the people of Israel endured exile in Babylon. They had lost their land, their temple, and their sense of identity. Yet God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah that after seventy years, He would bring them back.
In Ezra 1:1 we read that “the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.” The Lord stirred up the heart of King Cyrus, a pagan ruler, to issue a decree that the people of God could return home. This was the fulfillment of Jeremiah 29:10, where God promised, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”
The next verse, Jeremiah 29:11, is one of the most quoted in Scripture: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This was not a vague encouragement; it was God’s direct word to His people in exile. He had a future in store, and He was faithful to His word.
The Israelites had to cling to this promise, even when it seemed impossible. And so should we. God’s promises still stand: He will never leave us or forsake us, and He will carry to completion the good work He has begun in us.
2. Watch How God Is Moving
God’s hand was at work through unexpected means. Cyrus, king of Persia, was no follower of the Lord in the way Israel’s prophets and kings were. He worshiped many gods, yet God stirred his spirit to act on behalf of His people. Cyrus declared that the Lord, the God of heaven, had given him authority over kingdoms and commanded him to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:2–4).
This is a reminder that God can use anyone to accomplish His purposes. He is not boxed in by human limitations or worldly power structures. He worked through Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and now Cyrus. He can move through leaders who may not acknowledge Him fully, and He can bring about revival and restoration from the most unlikely of places.
Our cultural moment often feels chaotic—violence, division, political hostility, and even increasing opposition to biblical faith. Yet just as God worked through Cyrus, He is still working through circumstances today. No one is outside His reach, and no situation is beyond His sovereignty.
The challenge for us is to stay attentive, watching for where God is moving, and to be ready to engage with His redemptive mission. Rather than writing people off as irredeemable, we are called to pray, to hope, and to trust that God may be at work even in the places we least expect.
3. Go Where God Is Leading
Ezra 1:5 tells us that “the heads of the father’s houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up, arose to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.” Not everyone went, but those whom God stirred rose to the challenge.
The return to Jerusalem would not be easy. The journey was long and dangerous, and the city was still in ruins. Yet God was leading them back to restore worship, rebuild the temple, and reestablish their identity as His people.
In the same way, God stirs our hearts to follow Him into places that may be uncomfortable or uncertain. He calls us to serve, to give, to share, to go. Sometimes it is easier to remain in the comfort of “Babylon,” but God’s leading always moves us toward His purposes. And while it may be hard, it is in His leading that we find fulfillment and renewed hope.
Conclusion
Ezra opens with hope awakened. God fulfilled His promises, moved through unlikely leaders, and stirred His people to return and rebuild. For us today, the call is the same: trust what God has spoken, watch how He is moving, and go where He is leading.
When we do, the spiritual dryness of our lives can be transformed into spiritual excitement. God’s plans are not only for Israel of old but for us today. He desires to awaken hope in us, to stir us to action, and to use us as participants in His redemptive mission.
SERMON DETAILS
Speaker: Jeff McNicol
Series: Ezra
Sermon Title: Hope Awakened
Date: Sep 21, 2025
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Ezra 1:1–7
Jeremiah 29:10–11
Psalm 137:1
Daniel 5
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